ain when he was taken out in the carriage for a drive, lying at full
length upon a sort of couch which we erected for him, and to which he
declared, in my anxiety to make him comfortable, I had contributed all
the sofa cushions in the house.

The subject of the lost ship was forbidden for a long while; and I grew
to thinking of it as a sort of formidable undertaking, though one upon
which I was firmly bent--the confession to Aleck himself of my guilt in
the matter.

But when at last I was permitted to approach the subject, I could only
feel surprised that I had been for so long afraid of it. Aleck received
my confession so quietly, instead of getting angry, and spoke so kindly
and gently, that I could scarcely believe it was the same Aleck whose
look of fiery indignation on that eventful morning of the 20th of
September had so startled me.

In one way, indeed, he was _not_ the same; for the accident, and illness
consequent on it, seemed in some peculiar manner to have rendered him
far more lovable and thoughtful than he had been formerly; a trifle
graver, perhaps--at least I thought so, until, when he grew quite strong
again, his merry laugh would ring out as cheerily as ever--and more
serious in his way of looking at things, but not less happy. That I was
sure of; for all through the long weeks of confinement there was not a
brighter place in the house than the place at the side of his couch--he
was so uniformly cheerful, and seemed so thoroughly to enjoy every
little plan that we were able to form for his amusement.

I told him I was quite surprised that he received my confession so
gently; it would have been so natural if he had got angry. I remember
his answer very well:--

"Why, you see, Willie, it seems quite a little thing to me now. I don't
think I can exactly put what I mean into words; but you know when I
thought I was dying, and eternity seemed quite near, everything else
seemed so little--only, the wrong words I had used to you seemed much
worse than I had thought they could. Old George's words came back to me
so often, about the loss of the ship being a very little thing; whilst
wrong words and angry feelings would appear more terrible than we ever
fancied possible. I was dreadfully frightened until I felt quite sure I
was forgiven. You can't think how glad I was when I got your message."

"I wanted to tell you," I said, "when I came into your room that time;
but I couldn't speak, though I nearly chok